Are handguns evil? Yes or no? Please defend your position.?

Question

The only purpose of handguns is to kill people. I think private ownership of handguns should be banned in the U.S. and anyone found with a handgun should be severely punished. Only police officers should be allowed to carry handguns.

Knives, clubs, fists, cars, some medications and other chemicals have other primary purposes. Any purpose to kill would be ancillary.

The purpose of a handgun is to kill. The purpose of threatening to kill is ancillary and a derivative of the primary purpose.

Thus, your argument fails.

The primary purpose of rifles and shotguns are to kill game during hunting.

It's not a "slippery slope". It stops at handguns, period.

You Americans love guns and are so wrong. Wake up!

private15ft - Why would I go by your constitution when I'm not even American?

Oh, and by the way, I'm a Conservative who happens to believe that handguns are extremely bad for society.

Also, you're not too smart.

I really admire the U.S. ethos (ambition, excellence, capitalism), but I just don't get this love affair with guns. It's the main thing that really is flawed in the American way of life/belief system.

Answer 1

No Americans need handguns to shoot the neighbor's cat by mistake and to fight the Republic of China's army when it comes to invade their neighborhood.

And use the appropriate term. It is not a "hand gun".

It is a "human flesh drill". That's what it's made for, and that's what they do.

Happiness is a warm gun.

Answer 2

Wrong. They have several purposes. They can be (and more often are) used to THREATEN to kill people, for example, which is quite different. It is also a way of asserting one's power in a situation.

Police don't actually carry guns in order to kill bad guys, although that happens every so often. They carry them because getting people in trouble, arresting them, writing tickets, etc. would be a terribly dangerous process otherwise.

If you're making the argument that hand guns are evil, you're stepping onto a slippery slope. Knives, clubs, fists, cars, some medications, drugs, cigarettes, alcohol, carbon monoxide and other chemicals could all be described as evil under the same logical process. How tiring would that be?

Plus, if those who enforce the law (who are funded by the government) are the only people allowed to wield such weapons, you are essentially embracing tyranny. You know the Jefferson quote right? People shouldn't fear their government, governments should fear their people...

Answer 3

nachoscheese10
Hand guns are not evil they are inatimate objects that only act by the intent of the user which can be good or evil purposes.
A ban on handguns will never work in the US it would only lead to higher crime and a whole flow of Illegal guns in every ones hands who want one.

And alot of people dont care about prison who break laws even if its 30 years to life.
I dont care if handguns kill people they should not be banned and should flourish in the legal market and be left to the good citizens of the US.

There has always been killings since the beginning of time its normal and part of the balance of universe to rid excess populations or matter for new people and matter kind of like recycling.You can ban whatever you can kill someone with and people will still die from other causes like disease,age,accidents,murder,and so on and so forth.

If a ban happened in the USA I would have a gun anyways
and I would move somewhere isolated.It would be a very retarded day in America if the Extreme anti gun hopolophobes win a gun ban.

Answer 4

In spite of being convinced of the 'correct' answer...
guns, and this includes handguns are simply tools -

tools which are used or several purposes.
Handguns are for defense of an individual:
since you allow police to carry, you must agree.
Why restrict handguns to police only ? By US Supreme Court ruling, they are not required to 'protect' nor 'serve'...
the vast majority of licensed concealed carry people have much more practice at the range than the annual test type of requirement that the average cop has.
Your battle is with the criminal who is armed: just like the rest of us.

Answer 5

I don't think that police should be allowed to carry them if no one else is.... I think that could easily become an opportunity for abuse of power... Handguns are not evil... the people holding the handguns are evil, and police are no different from regular people in this respect... there are police out there who are simply schoolyard bullies who have grown up... and found a place for their antisocial behavior.

Answer 6

Why limit it to handguns? You and I both know that if A and B have similar intrinsic properties, then once you determine something to be true for A, it MUST be true for B. This is to say that if you determine that handguns are evil and then ban them, what's to say that Rifles and shotguns aren't also evil. Here, you enter a "Slippery Slope."

To answer your question...ABSOLUTELY NOT:

Law-abiding citizens use guns to defend themselves against criminals over 2.4 million times every year -- or 6,575 times a day. This means that each year, firearms are used 60 times MORE OFTEN to protect the lives of honest citizens than to take lives. - National Safety Council

According to the CDC, the total number of gun deaths by homicide, suicide and accidents in 2004 was around 29,000. Now, keep in mind that the gun was only the means of violence. In 2004 there were only 1,100 accidental deaths from guns in the US, meaning that if guns were not a factor, there would still be arond 27,000 violence-related deaths and suicides which occured by using other means.

20% of U.S. Violent Crime occurs in 4 cities: New York, Chicago, Washington D.C., & Detroit. These cities have near prohibition laws regarding handgun ownership.

1976- Washington, D.C. enacted one of the most restrictive gun control laws in the nation. Effect: Murder has risen 134%while the national murder rate has dropped 2%
.
New York City - Up 15% between 1998 and 1999. The SAME timeframe that new handgun restrictions came into effect.

In 1986, Florida Adopted the Right-To-Carry law, allowing citizens to carry firearms. The results from 1987-1996:

Homicide Rate: DECREASED 36%
Homicide by Firearm: DECREASED 37%
Homicide by Handgun: DECREASED 41%

No one was ever killed by a gun. A gun is a tool utilized by a person who can think and make decisions. It is an inanimate object, like a car, a knife, or an axe, which all are also used as a means commit crime.

Logically, you would have to outlaw cars before you can outlaw guns, because they are responsible for way many more deaths than a gun.

I mean, the government has an obligation to protect citizens from criminals, but how good of a job do they actually do? I agree with background checks, but most of the other laws that are on the books do nothing to stop crime.

Example: The assult weapon ban of 1994. Made guns illegal that held more than so many rounds, made collapsable stocks illegal, made bayonet lugs illegal... Tell me how any of those stipulations prevented crime. Even with the law, those items could still be bought from private people and on the black market. All it did was prevented an honest person from buying such guns - like my AR-15 has all of those feature, but it is no more prone to cause crime than a hunting rifle that was never illegal.

Now, lets look at this logically NOT IDEALISTICALLY. If more people began concealing and carrying weapons legally (in most states you have to apply for a license and take a class) do you honestly think a criminal would feel as free to commit a violent crime knowing that there is a good chance that his victim has the means to protect themselves? Yes, crime would still occur, BUT it has been proven in states such as Florida, Texas, and West Virginia that the greater the percentage of people who have concealled weapons permits is complemented by a lower percentage of vilent crime.

If a man were to break into your home in the middle of the night, and you did not know if he was armed or not, would you rather have a cell phone, a baseball bat, or a gun?

Virginia Tech is a prime example of how gun laws fail. The university strictly enforced a no weapon policy on its premeses. Consequently, the honest students were not armed, even if they were licensed, it still was not permited. One criminal broke the rules with a gun he bought illegally and slaughtered 32 students. Had any one of those students or witnesses been armed, they would have been able to neutralize the threat and saved at least some lives.

Japan: Guns have been completely banned for many year. Last month, the mayor of Nagasaki was shot by a gang member. The honest people gave their guns up, but the gangs still have them.

93% of Police officers believe law-abiding citizens should be able to purchase a firearm for self-defense or sport.

http://www.justfacts.com/guncontrol.asp
http://www.truepatriot.com/crime_stats_p...

Answer 7

I absolutely hate guns, but unfortunately, people can get guns legally and illegally. If we banned guns, the people who buy them out of the back of cars and trucks would still be able to get them. I think we should work on the manufacturers and the people who black market guns. Of course, they're very clever and frequently live outside the US. I do think that we should try to cut back on the amount of violence our young people see every day from so many sources. Then we start running into censorship issues. It's not an easy problem to solve is it?

Answer 8

You must not have the courage to be a responsible gun owner. I want the ability to defend my family, home and community. I want to be able to help the police in times of chaos and riots. You are naive if you think the police will be able to stand between you and the bad guys any time of the day or night. Some times you must fight to protect what is important.

Answer 9

Evil is in the hearts of people. The gun is an inamimate object. It can do nothing on it own.

Answer 10

Are handguns evil?(lays gun on table).Okay handgun kill people,do evil stuff do something!